Cyclocross Nationals: Photo Dump and News

Before I get into my photo dump, I have some news.  Since the fall of 2010, I have raced in the glorious colors of the Darkside, C3-Twenty20 Cycling.  I have loved every minute of every race and ride with my Brothers and Sisters of C3, especially since I was living in Maryland at the time.  Now, though, I live 1700 miles away from the C3 heartland.  As much as I would love to still fly the black, I am anxious to get integrated into my new community.  Through the magic of the Internet, I have gotten hooked up with a group of like minded ladies and gentlemen with whom I will be racing in 2014 and beyond.  This marks a bit of a change for me, as they are a mountain bike-focused team.  They enjoy long, hard rides in the mountains, and plan their seasons around events like the Breck Epic.  Henceforth I will be racing for 92Fifty Cyclery, a team run by one of the countries best endurance racers.  I'm looking forward to learning all that he has to teach and to making a bunch of new friends.

That brings me to my second piece of news, and it's something that I've been debating for a few months now.  I think 2013/2014 will be my last cyclocross season for a while.  It's certainly not because I have no more love for cross.  I was unsure about my reason why I felt this way before this weekend, but now I am not.  I have felt something has been missing from my cross season this year, and now I know that it was the people that I so loved racing cross with.  Cross is just not the same without my MAC Brothers and Sisters.  I think next year I will step back from cross for a bit.  There are some races that I would still like to do (the Boulder Cup weekend and MACISTAN ex-pat Jay Zorn's Cross of the North races come to mind), but I don't think I'll chase the Cyclo-X series like I did this year.  I'd like to extend my mountain bike season into October, and spend a lot of time hiking above treeline.  I will be back to a full cross schedule eventually.  Someday I'll have the speed to chase UCI points in the MAC and NECX and I'll make a vacation out of Holy Week, but not now.  Now I will enjoy my new mountains, post a ton of pictures to make everyone super jealous, and cheer from afar as I watch everyone spin laps around Charm City, Gloucester, or HPCX.  So... I'm really looking forward to getting to know all my new friends on the 92Fifty team.  From what I have seen so far they are all great people.  In fact, they roped me into the Colorado Fat Bike Championships in a few weeks, which we are doing as a 4 person relay.  Like the Marysville one, but a longer lap.  I'm really excited to do it.

Now for photos...

Auer, Sam, Bill, and I awaiting the Women's start and trying not to get blown onto the course.

Chicken man?

Compton is first through the off-camber.

Anderson second... foot out = flat out.

Anthony uses the top tube scoot technique.

Antonneau (had to look that up).

Gould  shredding the off camber with both feet attached to her bike,

Dennis shredding the photo area.

Maybe the first crash of the race?

Nikki right before the big dip sitting around 20th.

Nikki after the Belgian Stairs

Colt broadcasting live from a cold looking tent 

Compton onto the finishing straight to take her 10th title

Powers got a gap early and held it the whole race

Trebon was forever 30 or so seconds back

And Johnson was a ways back from him

Local Alan Krughoff had a fantastic day.

Local Danny Summerhill, not so much

Lindine

Kerry Werner did both the D1 Collegiate race and the Elite... won the first and got 11th in the second

Lindine and Summerhill battled most of the day for 7th

Page got dropped by the Raleigh/Clement duo and solo'ed in for 6th

Powers sandwich

Sam O'Keefe (C3 and Middlebury College) on the podium in 2nd in the D2 Collegiate race

Compton sandwich